The best players in the world play on NFBC and the most popular high-stakes contest is the NFBC Main Event, which has a $1,750 buy-in with a $7,000 league prize and a $200,000 overall prize. Thankfully, for everyone, NFBC allows us to see what each team is doing with their FAAB pickups on Sunday night.
Each week, I look at the most popular fantasy baseball waiver wire and FAAB pickups in the NFBC Main Event to see who the best players in the world are picking up and whether we should add them.
- Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Assistant
- Fantasy Baseball Trade Tools
- Weekly Fantasy Baseball Content
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Baseball FAAB Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 19
Jeffrey Springs (SP – TB)
Jeffrey Springs was added in 57 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $210 and a minimum bid of $14. Springs returned from Tommy John surgery last week. While his debut was nothing to get overly excited about, he may be one of the last big pickups of the season in the pitching department. The problem with Tommy John returnees is they tend to struggle with command and control. The re-loading Rays may be more conservative with his innings the rest of the way.
Coby Mayo (1B, 3B – BAL)
Coby Mayo was picked up in 47 leagues with a max bid of $269 and a minimum bid of $17. Mayo is a top-tier power-hitting prospect who has mashed AAA and has now made his Major League debut. He has 30-home run power and will hit in the middle of a very good lineup in Baltimore. The only problem is we have seen the Orioles not give their top-tier prospects a lot of rope because they are trying to win now. Mayo will need to hit to stay in the Majors but he has struggled out of the gate. It is only three games, so we do not want to overreact to that sample size.
Miguel Vargas (2B, OF – CWS)
Miguel Vargas was picked up in 46 leagues with a max bid of $59 and a min bid of $1. Vargas may have gained the most of any young player because of the deadline. He went from a crowded situation in Los Angeles where he was constantly blocked by the loaded talent on the Dodgers, to hitting first or second and playing every day with the White Sox. Playing time should not be an issue for Vargas in Chicago, but he also does not have a carrying tool for fantasy because of his lack of prodigious power or blazing speed. He needs to make a lot of contact and play a lot to have value in fantasy. This profile is more of a high floor than a high ceiling, making him more useful in deeper formats.
Paul Blackburn (SP – NYM)
I am a bit surprised to see Paul Blackburn added in so many leagues. He was picked up in 46 leagues with a max bid of $43 and a minimum bid of $1. The surprising part is Blackburn doesn’t have a great matchup this week as the Mets head to Colorado. He was likely just too widely available for deeper formats because he missed so much time with injury. He isn’t much of a fantasy asset outside of deeper formats because of his lack of strikeouts, but he ended up in a good spot for his fantasy value after being traded from Oakland to the Mets.
Ryan Thompson (RP – ARI)
Ryan Thompson was picked up in 44 leagues with a max bid of $110 and a minimum bid of $1. The Diamondbacks removed Paul Sewald from the closer role and moved into a committee, which Thompson will be part of. The problem is so will Justin Martinez, A.J. Puk and Kevin Ginkel. Could Thompson be the guy? Sure, but chances are the closer role will change hands several times.
Victor Scott (OF – STL)
Victor Scott was picked up in 43 leagues with a max bid of $45 and a minimum bid of $3. Scott was a prospect who started the year on the Major League club but disappointed before being sent back down. Scott has a ton of speed, but not much else to his profile. He likely is just a fourth outfielder in St. Louis but could be a valuable stolen base asset if he gets enough playing time.
Calvin Faucher (SP, RP – MIA)
Similar to the Arizona situation, the Marlins are moving to a committee for the closer job and Calvin Faucher appears to be a part of that mix. Unfortunately, the Marlins are not very good. Splitting ninth-inning work between Faucher, Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi won’t be very valuable for fantasy.
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